"Little harm" from UK foot and mouth outbreak

Little environmental damage has been caused by the major foot and mouth disease outbreak that hit Britain last year, the Anglo-welsh environment agency reported today. But long-term effects on groundwater from buried carcasses and pyre ash cannot be ruled out, it concludes in a comprehensive assessment of the outbreak's environmental impacts. The agency finds that air pollution from pyres was limited, though dioxin emissions are estimated to have been between 7 and 73% of UK annual emissions. Changed grazing patterns resulting from the slaughter of 6m animals could affect wildlife. See press release.

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